Introducing Beth Ditto's "Plus Sized" fashions

"I'm afraid there's not enough hipster irony in the world to make it work." -Kate Harding

I disagree. I think there is plenty of hipster irony to make these work. The jumpsuit on the top left is fantastic and there's a hilarious cat t-shirt online that I would rock without breaking a sweat.

But here's the thing: I can't.

Despite the fact that the model in the above pictures is AT MOST a size eight (my size), Beth Ditto's line doesn't come in anything smaller than a 14. So why the heck do they use a model smaller than a 14 to show the clothes? Beth herself is beautiful and spunky, so why could she not model her designs herself or hired models closer to the sizes the clothes actually come in? I just don't understand.

Kate Harding wrote an amazing article titled "A Slap in the Face to Fat Girls" about the hits and misses of the Beth Ditto line. Regardless of your size, you should surf over there to read it.

I'll be the first to admit that the fashion industry is warped. When I was a lanky teenager (standing at 5'8'' and tipping the scales at 120), I was asked to lose 15 pounds for a runway show in Chicago. Modeling career canceled! So to this day, weight is a very touchy issue for me.

Maybe I'm way off base here, so what do you think? Should they have made these clothes available for all sizes? Should they have used a model who is at least a size 14?

[peruse the Ditto pieces online at Evans]